Haan Haan Mein Crazy Hoon

Haan Haan Main Crazy Hoon

On May 11, 2014, we group of friends set out on a bicycle ride in Mumbai at 10pm in the night. Cycling through the streets at night, we saw Mumbai with a different perspective.

We rode for over 100kms in the darkness and had very interesting encounters along the way. This small poem I composed along the lines of the iconic Coke Ad sums up the feeling, our group had that epic night.

That night we tested our limits of endurance and came out winners!!

This ride was to support TABOFA's (Take a Breath of Fresh Air) 'kick the butt' campaign.

हाँ हाँ मैं Crazy हूँ 

Some pictures along the way 

Crazy Crazy Crazy 

दोस्तों  के साथ जाना,

रात भर साइकिल चलाना ,

लोगों की cigarette छुड़ाना,

खुशी यूँही लुटाना ,

अगर ये सब crazy है ,तो,

हाँ crazy हूँ 

मुंबई पुलिस को डराना,

गेटवे ऑफ़ इंडिया  सामने थेपला खाना,

Half पैंट पहने रात 2 बजे ताज में सुसु करने जाना ,

मौज यूँही मनाना , 

अगर ये सब crazy है ,तो,

हाँ crazy हूँ

5 बजे बिल्डिंग में वापस आना,

Morning walkers, दूधवाले और Security को चौंकाना,

धूम यूँही मचाना। . 

अगर ये सब crazy है ,तो,

हाँ crazy हूँ

Yes I am crazy.. am crazy, crazy crazy

हाँ हाँ मैं Crazy हूँ 

The route we traversed along

My Friend Nikhil Karnik, described the nights madness on his Facebook Post which goes like this...

Haan haan mein CRAZY hoon!!!! (Title courtesy Sandeep Bangia)….

Literary Warning: Folks, this is going to be a longgggggg post, please read it at your peril!!! However, if you want to join me in enliving my crazy journey across Mumbai on a cycle over 7 hours, you are free to continue reading...And yes, any reference to a person, Living or Living and situation is purely intentional, and you can sue me if you don’t like it… :P

Quit Smoking! A simple to preach, but a difficult to follow maxim…this is what around 50 crazy cyclists decided to take across to Navi Mumbai and Mumbai under “Take a Breath of Fresh Air” (TABOFA)’s third anniversary…this post outlines my “Once in a life-time experience” of associating with all these crazy people, as Sandeep Bangia has put in a nicely penned poem (which is reproduced at the end of this post, without his permission)…

How do I start? Well, the leader of this crazy pack - Kripa Sagar starts talking to / cajoling / forcing us – the Striders NRI group to join her for the 3rd Anniversary celebration of TABOFA – that is the day when she had quit smoking and gave herself and people around her lots of breath of fresh air!!!! Now, we had 3 choices – cycle 100 kms. through the length and breadth of Navi Mumbai and Mumbai through the night of May 10th and early morning 11th, run 21 kms. on Palm Beach Road at 6 am on May 11th or the craziest part – do both!!! I had a family function to attend in the morning of 11th and hence wisely chose to register only for the cycling event, not knowing what I was getting into...

As the D-day started coming closer, I started getting butterflies in my stomach – the longest that I ever had cycled before this at one go was 20 kms., that too mostly in the safety of my residential complex, and here I was aiming to do 5 times that on the roads of Navi Mumbai and Mumbai…I had asked Kripa a few days before if she thought I could do it, and she suggested me going out and doing a 40-45 kms. biking a couple of days before the event, which I could not. Looking at my anxiety (it was getting difficult to concentrate on smaller aspects of life including work and meditation), my better-half kept on asking me over Friday and Saturday if I really wanted to do it…and I kept answering in affirmative. Given that TABOFA was not only about asking people to quit smoking, but also was supporting a very noble cause of providing support to children with Cancer through the Janrakshita Trust, there was no way I was going to skip the event…

The preparation for the event itself was an event for me – I decided to drive down 50 kms. on Friday evening all the way to Decathlon in Thane to get myself some gear – Cycling Helmet, Shorts, Goggles, Lights for my Cycle, Air Pump, et all, came back home and proudly showed the shopping to the family....my daughter and my better-half were all giggles saying I looked like a school kid preparing for a picnic…

Now, cometh Saturday – I decided to have a nice siesta in the afternoon, which I could actually take, which refreshed me…then went and collected my bib from the event desk in the complex, went home, got into my gear and calmly went to the event start at the Rotunda in NRI Complex – Phase I….thankfully, all my nerves had settled down by then…my family joined me for the start, and we had some really nice time listening to Kripa sharing her history, and what made her go this crazy path; my good friend Col. Jasprit Bakshi sharing his thoughts on the event and most importantly, the young and brave Ashwini, a Blood Cancer survivor sharing her story…her strength was immense, which gave me further resolve of ensuring that I completed the ride that night….there was more fun around the way with lots of phones clicking away thousands of pictures…it was very nice of Firefox cycles to give each one of us a riding jacket, and all of us looked pretty good in them and giving the group a look of solidarity…

Come 9:15 pm, the cycling event was flagged off and it was a fabulous sight with most of the cycles blinking red LEDs on the rear…the weather was really nice with a nice breeze blowing...coming out from the Complex, we hit the Palm Beach Road, riding all the way to Vashi, crossing the flyover, heading straight down the Thane Belapur Road, all the way to Airoli, taking a left turn and heading over the Airoli bridge and taking the first Pit Stop just before the Toll Gate…roughly 22.5 kms covered in around 75 minutes…we helped ourselves with some nice Chutney and Jam sandwiches…

After a 10 minute break, we headed out towards the Eastern Express Highway, taking the left turn and then cycling down towards Chembur….the road was really nice to ride and we were zooming pretty well down towards the newly inaugurated SCLR, which I was looking forward to traverse….the group took an unscheduled stop just before the SCLR started from Chembur for all the riders to assemble together. The ride up and over the SCLR was a pretty nice experience, where I got chatting with Jitendra, the person who had chalked out the route for the ride and asked him if he actually covered the 100 km. route himself once before…got to know from him that one could design a route on Daily Mile….crossing the SCLR, we took the left turn towards Bandra Kurla Complex, took the right on the main BKC road, and traversed the road pretty quickly…here got chatting with another rider (missed his name), where we discussed the participation in the forthcoming Global Corporate Challenge, kicking off on 28th May…both of us were rueing the fact that TABOFA was not held during the GCC period (and missing out approximately 50,000 steps at one go)….

Getting out of BKC, we hit the Mahim Causeway, crossed Mahim and headed towards the second official Pit Stop at CCD near Shivaji Park…we crossed over onto Cadell Road, and stopped just at the turn…here is where the group had the first of the two trysts with Mumbai Police….it was past midnight and close to the mid-point when a Patrolling van stopped where we were talking a break and asked us what we were doing and if had permissions…the cops were directed to Kripa and wonder what miraculous words she uttered that they flagged us off to move further…

We started down Cadell Road, crossing Siddhivinayak Temple, down towards Worli, where I moved as the leader of the pack and for a moment when the lead vehicle slowed down, I was ahead of it (got chided by Kripa a little later for that)…we continued the ride smoothly, crossing Atria Mall, and as we hit the promenade in front of NSCI at Worli, the second and the most important tryst with the Mumbai Police happened….there was a big posse of Police (as if they were waiting for us), and had a lot of questions for us….again it was the charm of Kripa and the other organizing members who explained the purpose of the ride to the Police…some of my friends in the meantime had a gala time posing for and with a Page 3 types celebrity who had stopped to see so many cyclists at the same time, and pose with a cycle held in her hand as if she has never seen one (my friends are still searching for the photos taken at that time)….away from this humdrum, the Mumbai Police suddenly turned our best friend, and actually led the group with a Pilot vehicle…the best part was that this vehicle stopped the traffic at the Haji Ali signal (which had a lot of oncoming traffic after the MI – CSK IPL match) and allowed all the riders to get onto Peddar Road…

Up Peddar Road, down to Babulnath took us to Queen’s Necklace (Marine Drive), where I got my memories of the tough time I have got both the times when I hit it while running the SCMM…we continued biking down Marine Drive, took the left turn for Churchgate, turned right at Fountain and headed towards The Gateway of India, which was our designated Dinner Stop…reaching the iconic Gateway was a tremendous moment…we had covered 62 kms. by then and wanted a good break…here also a Police van came and briefed the SPG guards posted in front of the Taj Mahal Hotel that we had permission to take a break there…so out came the Dinner packets – what fun it was eating Theplas, Aloo Bhaji and Amul Masti chaas in front of the Taj Mahal Hotel, and having chilled water….there were some quick calculations being made by Kripa, it was around 2:00 a.m. and she wanted all of us to get back to NRI Complex between 4:30 and 4:45 a.m….it was another 38 kms. to go, which was over a good 2 to 2:30 hours ride for the somewhat tired group….the camera phones were busy clicking a lot of photographs!!!

Finally, we decided to move from the Gateway, which seemed like starting for the return journey!!!! The ride back took us past VT Station, where I joked to Col. Bakshi that let’s take the last train out, get down at Vashi and wait for others…saying how long did you guys take!!! Thankfully, even though it was well past 2:00 p.m., we decided not to take the JJ Flyover and instead took the long road via Mahatma Phule Market and under the Flyover…as we emerged at the other end of the flyover, we saw Traffic Police catching hold of all two wheelers that were ignoring the ban on 2 wheelers on the Flyover…this is where the Pilot vehicle actually gathered some speed, and a group of cyclists led by Raja Arora, Jotinder Verma and @Jasprit Bakshi started racing each other….we continued zooming past the Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Road, crossing Byculla, Lalbaug, Parel, Dadar, Sion till Priyadarshini Circle (taking a few and leaving a few flyovers in between)….I think this stretch of 10-12 kms. would have been the fastest for me, which my Endomondo mapping does prove…I covered the 70 to 80 km mark in 29 minutes, which was by far the fastest 10 km stretch….

Crossing the Priyadarshini Bridge is where fatigue finally had started taking over…this is where I had realized there were another 20 kms. to go…the battle between the body and mind had started…however, I continued biking at a slower pace…I took an unscheduled stop at Diamond Garden to have some water, and saw a few bikers go past me, including Kripa…I started biking again and caught up with her…asking her why I was doing this!!!! I was looking forward to the last scheduled stop at Deonar….the entire group stopped there, and we were treated to some nice Besan Laddoos…this is where I had to literally dip into the last ounce of the mental strength not to give up (was thinking of loading my cycle onto the Tempo that accompanied the group and hop onto one of the vehicles)…this is where I told myself that I could not quit after having cycled close to 80 kms.

The start from Deonar was uneventful, and I again saw the leading gang start racing again…we decided to skip getting onto the Mankhurd Flyover and went under it…getting onto the freshly laid Sion – Panvel Highway from Mankhurd…here’s where I caught with the running stud @Anurag Chaudhary and continued biking with him….the Vashi bridge was pretty much in sight, giving an indication that we were close back to Navi Mumbai…we had a discussion during the Deonar stop, where @Amit Mittal had highlighted that the Vashi Creek Bridge had a pretty steep gradient that we rarely noticed while driving our cars over it…however, when I started biking over it, I realized how steep it was…here I was fighting fatigue and here was a steep gradient to ride…putting the cycle in a low gear, I pedalled along…crossing the Vashi Toll gave me a new high of being in the home stretch….

Coming close to Vashi Flyover, I had the only scary moment of the ride…there was one rider from the group whom I did not know, who asked me if I knew the way forward…I of course knew it and rode ahead, not knowing why he had asked me…As I crossed Vashi signal at around 4:00 a.m., 2-3 Dogs started barking and chasing me (was riding alone at that time)…knowing the best thing to do in such a time, I simply breaked and stopped…and so did the Dogs…however, this other rider started cycling really fast and the Dogs had a new target…I had to shout at the top of my voice to ask him to stop!!! He did listen to me and the crisis blew over!!! Imagine being bit by a Dog when you had less than 10 kms. to go…both of us then got talking and I had the shock of my life when this person tells me that he had come all the way from Kandivali for the event…he had cycled 50 kms. even before I had started pedalling for the event…and that he was cycling back in the morning!!! I had a shock of my life when I heard this….

I hit the Palm Beach Road and had a renewed burst of energy knowing that I had only 8 kms. to go…however, the next source of worry was the dwindling battery of my mobile phone…did not want it to die down before I completed the event since I wanted to badly record the completion of 100 kms. on Endomondo…I prayed for a minute to Guruji asking for the battery to last till I completed the task and continued pedalling…I bade farewell to the Firefox Support team who had stopped at the Nerul Signal…having this team with us through the event was a big back-up and a huge mental support in case anything went wrong with our cycles!!!

The Seawoods signal was where the realization sunk in of the enormity of the task….I was ecstatic and as I reached the complex gate, I saw the early finishers waiting for us…there were Hi-Fives all around and congratulations being given!!! It was 7 hours and 15 minutes since we started at 9:15 p.m., ending the 101.88 km. journey at 4:30 a.m. with a cycling time of 5 hours and 45 minutes for me!!! Gradually all the riders kept coming in, and after a few photographs, I decided to head back home since I had to get up again in few hours to drive down another 40 kms. for the Family function!!!! I had a rousing welcome back home from my better half and really felt at the top of the world after having done the unthinkable a few hours back – to cycle 100 kms. at a go!!!! A final post-biking photo, an ice pack and a shower later, I was ready to hit the bed!!!! However, sleep just refused to take over me in light of the excitement of what had happened in the last 7 hours….

So friends, this in long is my story of being completely crazy…and here is the reproduction of the nice poem penned by Sandeep after doing the same crazy thing as 50 of us:

Haan haan main crazy hoon,

Crazy Crazy Crazy

Doston ke saath jaana,

Raat Bhar cycle chalana,

Logon ki cigarette chudana,

khushi yunhi lutana

Agar ye sab crazy hai to

Haan main crazy hoon

Mumbai police ko daraaana,

Gateway of India ke saamne 'thepla' khaana,

Half pant pehne raat 2 baje Taj mein 'susu' Karne jaana

Mauj yunhi manana,

Agar ye sab crazy hai to

Haan main crazy hoon

5 baje building mein Wapas Aaana,

Morning walkers, doodhwale aur security ko chaunkaana,

Dhoom yunhi machaana,

Agar ye sab crazy hai to

Haan main crazy hoon

Yes I am crazy.. am crazy, crazy crazy

Haan haan main crazy hoon!

Last but not the least, a big salute to the crazy lady – Kripa, hats off to you for conceptualizing and executing an event of this magnitude!! I can again keep on writing on the fabulous organization of the event, but already lot of it has been written about it…I can only wish that Colonel Bakshi’s prophecy of you giving SCMM a tough competition in times to come comes true…just on the closing note, I hope I become crazier by the next year to not just cycle 100 kms., but also join the running gang to complete the 121 km. event!!!! One last question to you - why did you quit smoking in the month of May??? You could have done it 6 months before or 6 months later....at least this torture could have been more enjoyable ;)

Tagging all my crazy friends here in the note - @Kripa Sagar, @Raja Arora, @Jotinder Verma, @Jasprit Bakshi, @Anurag Chaudhary, @Sandeep Bangia, Amit Mittal, Abhijit Mandal, Jitendra Kumar Gupta, Varadharajan Chellappa….friends, please tag yourselves if I have missed you out….enjoy the pictures!!!!

Personalise, dont intrude.

Personalise, dont intrude.

This article was published in 'The Hindu Businessline' dt 5th May 2005

Click here for seeing it on their website.

PLEASE leave me alone and please do not call me on my mobile phone again," went a senior executive's angered voice, obviously disgusted at receiving an unnecessary call in the middle of an important meeting. "These people want to sell me a credit card at this time of the day!" he exclaimed, as everyone in the meeting watched him take this call.

If you are not unfamiliar with such situations and find them unacceptable, then you are not alone. Millions of consumers the world over are bombarded with unsolicited calls, visits and mail with little or no regard for the situation of the person being approached.

The `Right to be left alone' was discussed in the Law of Torts as early as 1888. However, its relevance in the current context has only increased.

In the course of many of our daily transactions, we have given out much personal information such as name, address, phone numbers, occupation and income. We are made to believe that the information sought is necessary to fulfill the transaction. But sometimes it may be irrelevant and an invasion of one's privacy. With advancement in Computer and telecommunication technologies, this information can easily be stored and transferred to multiple sources, compounding the problem. . And we as consumers have little or no control thereafter. Database suppliers and mailing list vendors are today's realities.

Lucky draw coupons, registration information and feedback forms are some ploys to capture sensitive personal information. As long as the feedback form in a restaurant seeks information about the food and ambience in the restaurant, it's fine - they are seeking feedback. But if it asks for your contact details and such, it is asking about you and you can ask them why they need to know that. Chances are, they will not know why. Well, better restaurants with organised set-ups will probably use this information to invite you when they run a food festival or such.

With the realisation of the benefits of relationship marketing almost overnight there is a phenomenal rush of people who suddenly want to know your contact details, birth dates, anniversaries, your likes and dislikes. This information is usually collected without a clear plan beyond that. The most enthusiastic marketer has not been able to go beyond sending that birthday card, if at all.

The problem is not limited to restaurants alone. There are a lot of people or organisations that have access to your serious personal information and don't know what to do with it.

The biggest culprits are the financial services companies. Look at their forms to realise the amount of risk you are exposing yourself to.

We give out extremely sensitive information in good faith. But do most companies live up to this faith? I suspect not, as the moment we sign up for a credit card, we are flooded with junk mails from nondescript marketers and we are left wondering as to how they got to know that we existed and where, with such remarkable precision.

Marketers have a responsibility to the unwary consumer which they must demonstrate in collection and usage of consumer data. The following are some ways: Collect relevant and essential information: Differentiate between `need to know' and `nice to know.' Always be prepared with an answer if the customer confronts you with " Why do you need this information?" If you don't have an answer that sounds convincing to you, don't ask - Simple.

Limit the usage of the information: Temptation to use this information for cross-selling is hard to resist. But always seek permission from the customer for using the data in cross-selling and promotions. Privacy advocates recommend the use of opt-in approach rather than the opt-out approach when sending communications.

The default opt-out option is considered intrusive as it is like saying, "I will contact you as long as you say I shouldn't." In contrast, the opt-in approach means that the marketer has to confirm if the customer is open to receiving cross-selling and promotional material. Most customers will see reason and opt in if you are able to convince them that they will genuinely benefit from the communication they receive from you.

Ensure that the data is accurate and updated: There is an example of this company which had to call off its relationship programme when a customer who was sent an SMS wishing him a happy wedding anniversary called back woefully to say his wife had passed away two years ago. Alas, the organisation had taken the data long time back but decided to use it now. Don't collect the data if you can't start using it immediately.

Go slow: Do not collect all information from each customer in a single interaction - it could intimidate the customer. Ask for a little at a time and if you are in the business for the long run, you surely will get more dialogue opportunities.

Restrict access: Never pass on sensitive personal information to any other organisation for any reasons whatsoever. Also, to prevent involuntary leaks, limit access of the databases to a few authorised personnel only.

Personalise your offerings: Assuming you have the customer's approval to communicate for cross-selling, try and personalise as much as possible. The carpet-bombing approach may be easier but may not go down well with the majority of the customers.

Don't flaunt the information that you possess: Make it look like providence or an amazing coincidence. Knowing and using the knowledge to personalise is great, but knowing and telling that you know is a strict no-no.

A customer is likely to feel extremely insecure on being told "Sir, I can see that you are using your credit card and bank account for withdrawing cash lately. I wonder if you wish to avail of our new personal loan scheme."

Enunciate a privacy policy: Always have a clear and stated policy which outlines your company's predilections towards handling privacy-related concerns. If you are able to convince your audience that all information vested in the organisation will be used to personalise the product offering for the customers and make life more convenient for them, then customers will expressly welcome it.

When a market nears maturity and acquiring new customers becomes a challenge, marketers fall back on CRM systems to retain and cross-sell to existing customers. They scan their databases with a fine-tooth comb to look for buying clues. In the process they overstep the line where noble intentions diminish and privacy intrusion begins.

Customers in the developed markets have been extremely un-pardoning when they feel they have little or no control over their personal information. Australia, Canada, the US, the UK and other European nations have offices of the Privacy Commisioner. There are strict laws that have been enacted to safeguard citizen's privacy.

Canada's PIPED law, which came into force fully last year, is a good example of what privacy laws are coming to. It encompasses all businesses and government and covers subjects such as Internet privacy, health records and direct mailing. Similarly, Australia's Federal Privacy Commissioner works with a set of National Privacy Principles.

It is only a matter of time before such customer sagacity comes to India and forces the Government to act. We are already seeing a string of PILs in this direction and some corporates are seen to be responding.

We as individuals and customers have to start questioning the intention of people with whom we trust with our personal information. As an extension of this marketers have to respect the privacy of the customers who have put faith in them.

If the suggestions and arguments presented above seem fastidious, then not collecting data or ignoring behavioural indications is equally preposterous. Simply because most of these analyses and observations will actually help the customer.

There is a thin line dividing personalisation and privacy encroachment. Today organisations are being forced to walk this tight rope. Implementing a privacy-heeding CRM programme needs a serious commitment.

The temptation to give up this forced inaction (despite having information and resources) is very high. Privacy commitment has to be sustained effort driven from the top. But once privacy consciousness sinks into all levels within the organisation, the results would slowly though surely show up. That's when `customers for life' would become a reality.

(The writer works with a national telecom company. The views expressed here are his own.)

(This article was published in the Business Line print edition dated May 5, 2005)

Life Lessons from cycling & Khushi's moment of triumph

I posted this on 3rd October 2014 - Khushi rode up with me on the Parsik Hill.

Khushi's maiden Parsik hill ride done today.. Along with a full circuit of PBR.

While guiding her up the hill and back.. And then riding along the PBR in great weather ... I realised that Cycling in many ways is how life is ....

So here are some Life's lessons from cycling ( Feel free to add more ) : 

1. Being in top gear won't ensure success always... Its is all about changing gears at the right time.
2. If the going seems easy and you are going too fast without much effort, caution !! you maybe going downhill.
3. If it's tough and you seem to be going slow .. Have patience, you will surely be rewarded with the feeling of 'being on top' and thereafter the pleasure and thrill of a slope with wind across your face. Enjoy !!
4. Lesser the 'baggage' you carry, more effortless your ride is likely to be. 
5. Steady consistent speed is what gives you control and balance ... Neither very high speeds nor very low speeds. 
6. On rough roads, it makes sense to hold the handlebar tight and steer your way as desired.
7. If all the wheels and gears are not in harmony and if any one of them creaks... The ride will be rough. Have balance between wheels of work, life and relationships. Spend time in regularly oiling each of them
8. Like in cycling, in life too... one has to pedal continuously. You stop and you fall.
9. Turn too sharply and you fall. Negotiate the changes with patience.

It’s not Telecom, it’s the great Indian Entertainment Revolution

It’s not Telecom, it’s the great Indian Entertainment Revolution

I have lived in this beautiful city of Vadodara for over a year and I know that nine nights of Navratri in Vadodara are quite magical. I promised to take my girls to the city during the festival this year.

So no sooner did the chance present itself, I found myself driving on the highway towards Vadodara on NH-48. We started the journey road at 5am on Saturday from our residence in Navi Mumbai to be able to beat the traffic within Mumbai. The plan was to reach Surat by 9.30 odd and Vadodara in time for Lunch. The girls were still somnolent, tired from the restless previous night. I have a pair of 8 year old twins and a 14yr old teenager – all girls and they had been excitedly packing stuff for the trip late until midnight.

The 'Revolutionaries'

I exited the city and hit the highway well before sunrise. My teenager kept me company, chatting up with me at times and playing choicest of music from her phone– both her choice & mine (mostly mine… since I skipped the songs using steering controls when I didn’t like what was playing). All this while the twins slept peacefully.

The twins got up as it suited them by about 7 am and after chatty conversations… they picked up my phone. They realized that they had little choice over the music with me and their elder sister around so this seemed like a cozy compromise.

Very soon, I realized that they were not playing games as they usually did - they were actually watching a movie. They were watching ‘Tanu Weds Manu Returns’ on the phone and were listening to it on their earphones (I have a splitter which lets them share both their earphones). But wait I didn’t have the movie on my phone. They had actually figured it out and were actually streaming the movie from one of the Video on Demand applications I had on my phone. I was relieved that they were busy.

This set me thinking. My teenage daughter was all along streaming music from her phone to my car music system and we were enjoying a mélange of songs. Most of these songs were not stored on the phone which actually removed the restriction on the number of songs we ‘carried’. We were literally carrying millions of songs.

And now coming to the back seat, the twins were enjoying the movie. They got a movie of their choice (in my house, movies which have a strong female protagonists are popular – 3 girls you see!) and were merrily enjoying it from the thousands of movies that VOD app had.

I have undertaken road trips in the distant past and mostly that meant packing our favorite cassettes or CDs or more recently buying and loading up songs on the ipod which was connected through the Aux mode on the car’s systems.  None of that. Today’s kids don’t have to ‘stock up’ on their favorite music for the trip. This was a departure from the past, when for me and my sister packing things for a trip meant collecting cassettes/CDs.  Today entertainment was available on tap. All of this was enabled by the high speed 3G data & 4G data networks of the modern day.

Great roads and Kishore Kumar playing on the car audio helped the mind. What if everyone gets a smartphone and gets connected to the high speed information highway. The clean and smooth NH-48 in a rhetoric sense now seemed like an information superhighway - high speed, obstacle free.

The Wonderful Highway to Vadodara

So here we were listening to songs which were chosen from amongst a million options, the twins were seeing a movie which they has chosen from amongst the thousands on the portal.. and we didn’t ‘possess’ any of these. What if this possibility were to replicate in every handheld device and in every household.

It was only last month that I had ordered the movie ‘Sultan’ from the comfort of my home and was watching it on my Apple TV when it struck me that I haven’t visited a multiplex in a long time. I prefer to watch it at home with no set timing. I also don’t watch the movie in one single sitting. I watch it over 2 or 3 days. The movie did very brisk business of over Rs300 crores in India. However when I look at the numbers in detail, I realize that just about 30Mn people have seen the movie in the theatres. Again, it was also a Salman Khan movie ‘Prem Ratan Dhan  Paayo’ which had the highest number of people watching it when it was telecast. The world television premiere of ‘Prem Ratan Dhan Payo’ on Star Gold and Star Gold HD was offered on Valentine’s Day. The movie delivered record TRPS and at closest estimate, it was seen by 70Mn people. So now, in a country of 1.3bn people and with a very established movie production business, the highest reach a movie could garner is no more than 100Mn… and that is if I take the best of both – people viewing in theatres and people watching on TV.

India produces over 2000 movies in a year and the movie business is nearly 3bn$.So if only 10-12% of this self-confessed movie crazy country watches a movie… where are the rest. Don’t they have the need for entertainment?

To put it in perspective, it needs to be understood that India has just about 8000 theatres (screens) for the 2000 odd movies that we produce. Compare that to China’s 25000+ for less than 1000 movies and US’s 40000+ screens for Hollywood movies and you get a sense of deprivation. So it’s not just the cost of watching a movie at the closest cinema… there just aren’t enough screens. And if you think that you don’t get tickets to a multiplex for the weekend…remember- it just gets worse outside the large cities.

New screens are going up at an excruciatingly slow pace given the costs involved (mainly real estate) and this presents a huge opportunity to the producers to showcase their movies on the ubiquitous screen – the smartphone screen. This is another opportunity for leap-frogging. What if the number of people who watch a movie now goes up from 100Mn to just 200Mn - assisted by distribution on a smartphone screen. And this 100Mn is for popular cinema. The numbers are much lesser for niche cinema, so much so that a regional language movie or a special interest/ niche cinema movie would not even find screens for a theatrical release. They would just be squeezed out of the theatres by big banners. Opportunities to showcase such cinema are immense on the smartphone screen. You reach just the audience who likes such cinema and could be spread in any corner of the country. All this without worrying about filling up cinema halls & hence running the risk of your movie being pulled down by the theatre owner.

Entertainment on the go

And this is not just about movies alone. The smartphone screen has been giving serious competition to other popular screen ‘the television’.

The second presidential debate between Clinton and Trump garnered a whopping 63 million TV viewers but this number dwarfs in comparison to the 124 million views on YouTube, 3.2million viewers on Twitter’s livestream and Facebook Live’s 7.4mn viewers (in partnership with ABC News). So 63Mn on television and twice that number on the smart screen. If this is a sign of times to come… look where we are heading.

The convenience of the smartphone screen is unparalleled. It’s your anywhere, anytime screen and if your family is watching the soaps, you can watch that cricket match. Why! HotStar has been claiming 100 Mn viewership for the IPL during the previous season.

It’s the same for Television. India has ~300mn households of which ~ 175mn are cable households (just over 50%) but Indians have almost 1bn mobile connections. Urban penetration stands on TV homes is at 83%, while rural is as low as 40%, but the divide is not so stark when it comes to mobile phones. What if Kapil Sharma were to reach so many people or households? What if Pro-Kabaddi League reaches the nooks and crannies of rural India? It would change the landscape media, sports and entertainment in the country for good. Everyone in the game - advertisers, broadcasters, producers and consumers tend to gain by going on the smartphone screens and if you are not present on the digital distribution channels you’ll be trampled over.

The Group

While I was in Vadodara, we went to the absolutely fabulous venues for Garba at Navlakhi grounds and the UWB (United Way of Baroda). The atmosphere there was electric. People of all ages in their best traditional costumes were swaying to the beats of the Garba. The more enterprising of them were dancing, the slightly less enterprising were watching from the sidelines but what was also intriguing was that I could see a lot of people going live through their Facebook accounts to share the awesome energy in the grounds. Almost every other person who I thought was shooting a video or clicking a picture was actually going ‘live’ to share the experience with their friends and family – real time.

At Vadodara Navratri Festival, Navlakhi Grounds

Where does all of this bring me to? Movies and Music streaming through the smartphone, Watching Live TV on the smartphone, real time video sharing of precious moments with friends and family again through the smartphone. Not that we don’t know the power of bringing all these things in the hands of the a billion consumers, it’s a revolution of sorts.

We have had data networks on our phones for a long time and we don’t need the 4G speeds or even the 3G speeds to update our Facebook Status or do an e-commerce transaction. The high speeds networks really make a difference when there is video involved. The smooth video rendition makes the experience worthwhile, not unlike the ‘buffering’ experience of the past.

So when I or my daughters get the power to carry millions of songs, thousands of movies, hundreds of TV channels and ability to relay precious moments to a dozen friends live from the palms of our hands, we know we have it all!!

And then when I think that government has auctioned spectrum to telecom companies, they haven’t really fuelled another telecom revolution, they have unwittingly propelled an Entertainment Revolution. Because that’s what this is! Do they know it yet though?

An open letter to PM Sh. Narendra Modi in the wake of DeMonitisation

An open letter to PM Sh. Narendra Modi

Sub: My tryst without currency

Dear Sir,

I was unable to see your televised address on 8^th November at 8pm and only heard about the shock news that the currency notes of Rs 500 & Rs 1000 would no more be legal tender starting a few hours from then. The news had indeed taken me and my colleagues, who were still in office, by surprise.

About me - I am no economist not even an arm chair variety. I am also not a politician nor am I affiliated with any political party. I just like to keep myself informed of the happenings around me and sometimes converse & comment on the current affairs only on merits and not along party lines. I am a modest urban middle class tax paying citizen who yearns to grow up the ladder by hard work and determination.

We tried to find more and realized that we could deposit the money in the bank by 30^th Dec and/ or exchange the currency notes also till then.

A quick mental scan of the situation as it lay before me suggested that all was under control. I had been getting my salary in the bank, most of my spends are through credit cards and debit cards, I pay for taxi rides through mobile wallets. I have invested in an additional apartment and the tenant transfers money to the bank (post deducting TDS I may add), and I pay municipal taxes, electricity bills etc online. I shopped for weekly (or in some cases monthly) grocery provisions from the nearby department store using the cards. Hence I seemed sorted for most of my transactions. But yes, I needed cash to pay the shopkeepers near my house for sundry emergency provisions like bread, veggies, ice creams & chips etc for my daughters and similar stuff.

Sir, I realized that while I did not go through any significant inconvenience, the maid who visited our house had been feeling the crunch. I tried to help in my own way by simply opening up the kitchen and refrigerator to her. We asked her to pick up whatever provisions she wanted and she picked up some rice, some veggies, a bar of soap and some random stuff, cost of which was insignificant to me, but a convenience which was significant for her. Most of the neighbors I know did very well to support people who needed help. One of my building inhabitants who I heard runs a small factory made a list of provisions his workers wanted, purchased it from a department store paying by card and handed the stuff over to his workers. One of them walked to the bank to help them open a bank account and other such stuff. The shops near our society were happily accepting 500 & 1000 Re notes, a few quickly started accepting cards for small values also (something they were reluctant to do, only a few days back), signed up for mobile wallets or as a last resort, started offering credit to regular patrons.

In all of this, a visit to my local barber summed up the ‘feelings’ of the common man (will refrain from saying aam aadmi). I had forgotten that I had only Rs 60 apart from the now defunct notes of Rs 500 & Rs 100. He told me ‘Sir, aap pehli baar nahin aa rahe baal katwane, aap nischint rahiye. Aaj jab desh mein accha kaam ho raha hai toh hone do. Aap paise agli baar de dena”. This touched a chord somewhere.

Of course I saw that patronage to restaurants had been lesser than normal. Home deliveries from restaurants had virtually stopped, hawkers did lesser business than usual as there was no cash to receive or give. In the middle of all this, we went to this restaurant where we as a group of friends met for dinner and had to asked the captain to swipe the card 7 times to split the bill. My inconvenience was limited to spending more time to pay by card whereas in normal cases, one person would pay by card and rest everyone would pay his share in cash.

While I have stood in the queue for withdrawing money from the ATM and to deposit old currency notes in my account, you could still accuse me of being an elitist urban citizen not in touch with rural reality. True, I would readily agree as I am not aware of the problems of farmers and other rural folks first hand. Though I hear that while the discomfort has been high, the hopes for a better future are even higher.

Sir, I suspect that the government machinery was not completely geared up for a handling a transformation of this magnitude and has been faltering. At the same time I am happy that this step is being taken and I am happier that the government is reviewing and monitoring the situation so closely that course corrections are being done daily to ease the inconvenience to citizens. Changing limits of withdrawals, accommodating people having marriages in the family, not charging at toll booths and so many other changes are being done. It’s quite a delight to note that governments can be so efficient in observing issues, listening to citizens, taking quick decisions and taking actions. I haven’t seen that in a while.

Sir, there is hope. There are already talks of loan being eased up since the banks are flush with funds and other such economic benefits. However, to me the benefits accruing are not so much economic as are behavioral. Tomorrow if I am confronted with a situation where a government officer asks me for a bribe, I will not pay up. I will not pay up because I know this is not acceptable, this is not the norm, the higher authorities will not tolerate it and hence action will be taken again against him. And I will be emboldened to say that, knowing that the Prime Minister of the country is against the practice. Sadly, with all the scams of the past, I wasn’t sure if I had the support from the ‘higher ups’ – after all, if all the netas and ministers took bribes, I would fear victimization if i was to speak up. And despite one not liking it, one would most likely play along – reluctantly.

My father had been a government official and we had several friends and relatives from several ranks junior to him (though not from the same organization) who had enjoyed lifestyles several notches above what we enjoyed with our modest middle class existence. My parents explained this dichotomy by saying that it’s because we are honest people. I never understood it then, however its only when I grew up is when I realized the meaning of ‘upar ki kamai’ and the perks that came with it. By then ‘honesty’ was a virtue that was deeply ingrained in me – and rightly so. Of course, I am not unique, I am sure most of our countrymen have had similar experiences and upbringing. And still most of us at some time, have frustratingly paid bribes.

Sir, human beings are not born dishonest, its only when you see the dishonest easily get away with the spoils, only when you challenge the boundaries of law and derive thrill out of it, only when you are not handed over a stern punishment the first time you cross the line, that you would be tempted to stray fearlessly beyond the boundaries of law. And this is exactly what is happening currently. Somewhere this fear has vanished and that’s why you see lots of people right from a traffic policemen to a high ranking babu openly seeking bribes. The biggest change that I hope to see is in this behavior.

Sir, for once we are seeing the advantage of being honest, for once honesty as a virtue is not making me feel deprived. I’ve heard you rightfully use the phrase ‘Imandaari ka Utsav’ where honest tax payers celebrate and the evaders have sleepless nights. For far too long, we have seen dishonest people enjoying the fruits of their dishonesty. Its time, not just to snatch their ‘fruits’, but also punish them for what they are – dishonest bribe takers and dishonest tax evaders.

Sir, people are bearing with this temporary inconvenience with a hope that things will change hereon. However if things don’t change and a government official demands a bribe, if prices rise and inflation doesn’t stay in control or if people don’t see a tangible difference in their lives after this ‘kadak chai’ that you have served, then peoples anger would know no bounds. Honest people will feel let down and the dishonest will rejoice. And then no PM will even attempt a renaissance of this nature in a country of this size. We can’t let that happen.

Sir, please don’t get distracted by the people who tell you that similar such demonetization experiments have failed in some other countries. All you need to tell these people is that most of those countries like Russia, Myanmar, North Korea etc had taken to the demonetization exercise with their people showing deep resentment and hostility unlike here in India. Here as you can see, the move is being welcomed and cheered by almost everyone. Sir, don’t lose focus when they tell yell at you in the parliament or outside. Remember, the industry captains, the celebrities, most foreign media and most importantly the public in general has hailed your move.

Finally sir,  if Chanakya were to see what’s happening in this country he would easily relate – “when there is appreciation by the intellectuals, when there is upheaval in the enemy camp, when there is unrest amongst the traitors, then you know that the king is of good character & high morals and that the nation is on the path to progress.”

This is our moment and we ought to seize it, this is India’s moment of truth and this is your – our Prime Ministers’ Blue Ocean Strategy for transformation and transition. We have to make it work, we WILL make it work.

All the best sir, I stand by you. My family stands by you!

Best wishes,

Sandeep Bangia

Handling an Irate Customer

This article has been written from my experience as a Sales Manager handling customer complaints. The article also draws extracts from various research findings available on the internet.
This was published in the Business Standard - The Strategist dt 21st July 1998.

Everybody has faced him, CEO of the company to the junior-most employee in an organisation. Nobody wants him that way. But then no one can possibly wish him away. Meet him now- An irate Customer.

Well think of it, you as a part of an organisation, irrespective of your field of work must have had this experience of coming across an irate customer - A customer who is complaining - Complaining because he is dissatisfied with your product, program or service, delays in delivery, unfulfilled warranty obligations, poor repair work, incompetent or discourteous employees, billing errors, deceptive advertising , just about anything(or even nothing) . Your service delivery has failed to reach the expectation he had, when he decided to opt for it, thus causing dissonance. He is also calling you up to tell you about it and that he banks on you, the person whom he is speaking to, to set things right.

Consider the following findings from "Consumer Complaint Handling in America," a study by Technical Assistance Research Programs, Inc. (TARP):

¨ About 50 percent of the time, customers who have a problem with a product or service are not likely to tell the company about it.

¨ Nine out of ten of these "silent critics" will probably take their future business to a competitor.

¨ Even when a customer does complain, one out of every two will not be thoroughly satisfied with the company’s efforts to solve the problem.

¨ Dissatisfied customers typically tell between seven to nine other people when they have had an unsatisfactory experience with a company.

¨ Negative information has twice the impact of positive information on purchasing decisions.

¨ Word-of-mouth is one of the most important factors influencing a customer’s decision to buy from a company.

¨ Customers who have had a problem that got resolved satisfactorily tend to be more loyal and supportive than those who do not experience any problem at all.

Thus the fact that the customer is calling you up in anticipation is in itself a victory considering that he could have gone for the other two options open to him :

Private Response - Vowing not to deal again and discouraging others by word of mouth.

Third party response - Litigation or redressal through Consumer forums.

So all this just goes on tell us that complaints are one of the most important forms of communication between a business and its customers and constructive responses to complaints can help retain customers who would otherwise be lost.

Thus for every organisation the foundation of customer goodwill is the existence, promotion and practice of a sound customer relations policy. The policy should encourage customers to communicate their concerns and demonstrate the commitment to their satisfaction. The policy should spell out how, when, where and by whom complaints or questions are handled..

The complaint handling system is structured from the customer relations policy and must operate simply, effectively and quickly. The following procedures are essential:

Screening and Logging - The date the problem occurred, a description of the problem, and any other pertinent information should be formally recorded. It has been observed that the customers’ first call to your organisation to inform about his dis-satisfaction is the single most important factor in determining his response to your shortcoming. And again it is found that it is this very contact point in the organisation that’s lacking and needs to be well oiled.

Telephone call from an irate customer, when it is taken by anyone, whether it’s a top level CEO or a trainee, needs to be addressed using what is called the EAR method.

Empathize with the caller. Try to understand how the person is feeling. Listen uninterrupted. Let the caller get everything out of him. When you listen, don’t try to apply logic to the situation. Many people are beyond logic when they are angry. Avoid argument and criticism.

Apologize and acknowledge the problem. You don’t have to agree with the caller, but express regret that there is a problem. Let the customer know that his complaint is receiving attention. paraphrase the caller’s comments, and ask questions if you do not understand the information being presented to you. Restate the problem as you understand it.

Accept Responsibility. Make sure something is done. Take it upon yourself to DO something. Many times, that’s all that people want: the reassurance that something will be done. People want to be helped. They want to know that you care. Use these phrases to get that sentiment across: "How can I help you?" "What can I do for you?" "I’ll make sure this message/information gets to the right person."

The acceptance of responsibility may be as simple as forwarding the call to the appropriate individual or sending the caller more information.

Remember not to blame anyone — the caller, yourself, or someone on your staff — even if you know who is to blame for a problem. This information should not be shared with the caller.

And in your responses, avoid these forbidden phrases:

"I don’t know." It sounds as if you’re closing the door on the caller or that you’re not sure what’s going on in your own office.

Better to say: "That’s a good question. Let me check and find out."

"We can’t do that." This sentence is extremely negative. Be positive. Try this: "That’s a tough one. Let’s see what we can do."

" You’ll have to..." seems to put the pressure back on the caller. Try instead: "Here’s how we can help you."

"No," when it begins any sentence. It sounds as though you’re not willing to help.

"We aren’t able to do that, but we can...."(Because there’s always something you can do.)

Investigating - In addition to information from the customer, gather more facts by finding out about the problem. In all probability you are aware of the problem and are anticipating such calls. If you are then the answer to such calls are probably known to you and if not you could get back to the customer with your investigative results. In such a case DO GET BACK!!! Nothing is more frustrating than the customer having had to call you up again.

Formulating a Solution - Offer solutions and, if appropriate, offer alternatives. Providing alternatives empowers callers. It gives callers a feeling that the decision was not imposed on them but that they were part of the solution. Your solution should be consistent with your customer relations policy. Important criteria while offering a solution is to consider the customer’s expectations; the cost versus benefit of alternative solutions; the probability of your customer seeking redress; the fairness of your decision; and your ability to carry out the solution.

Finally, confirm the solution with the caller. Make sure the caller agrees with what has been decided.

Responding - After you have resolved the complaint with the customer to his satisfaction, write to him and if possible send him a small token bouquet or a gift. It a small way of telling him that though you cannot undo the inconvenience caused to him due to your lapses, you do care. Your letter should be clear, appropriate and specific to the individual’s complaint. Avoid form letters and technical jargon. Explaining your decision can preserve your customer’s goodwill, even if a different result was desired.

Abusers

There is one small group of irate callers that has to be addressed here: the abuser. You may not get abusers very often, but when you do they can disturb you terribly . You may call attention to the abuser’s language by saying, "Sir/ Madam, I can handle your problem, but I am not able to handle the swearing. I request you to stop swearing." In most instances, the caller is taken aback by your retort and being aware of what they are saying will halt the swearing. However, if it does not stop, I suggest you ask the person to stop abusing twice more and if the caller doesn’t, then hang up. Three tries and hang up. No one should have to listen to verbal abuse. This method has worked very well with me and invariably you will find the customer calling you back to apologize for his behaviour and seeking a fresh beginning.

Of course, not everyone will be happy, no matter what you do. These people will not be content; they just like being grumbly. These are testing times when the caller starts pressing the "trigger" or "hot-button" words or phrases, accusing you directly and you are tempted into respond ing by getting defensive or retaliatory . They are the people who want to talk to the person "above you." If that is what it takes to lessen their anger, then do so. By the time they have been transferred to a superior, they usually have become calmer and less demanding. It seems that they just needed to vent their anger at someone: you.

Remember, a positive attitude is the most important asset you can have. And if the customer is shouting at you, don’t take it to you personally, its pure business, you are a part of the organisation that has messed up. So own up.

Finally it is to be realised that you would rather hear from an agitated customer than not hearing from him again at all.